This photo was taken around 1983, give or take, during my time at the Brunswick Council. Sitting on the chair is the late Cr Greg Incantalupo. It seems like he had just been elected mayor. Standing next to Greg is Cr Joe Caputo who has been active in local government ever since. At the time there were 12 ALP councillors out of 12. We were running the Council, but not without some serious disagreements. We divided into Left and Right, ethnics and not, each group and subgroup plotting for control of something or standing against something. Greg was on the right, but we, on the left, supported him on Juventus matters. That was a popular soccer team at the time, which was looking for a base in Brunswick. Greg (and the Right) supported Juventus, but so did Joe and I on the grounds (excuse the pun) that it was all about equity and fairness. The mainstream had all the footy grounds, bowling greens and even some park where they played a funny game that involves hitting a ball backwards between your legs - I have never seen it, but I know it existed. Of course, the Brunswick "trendies" were opposed to the granting of a soccer ground to Juventus as they saw it as a missed opportunity to establish a park and a waste of taxpayers' money for an irrelevant sport. Large town hall meetings were held and consultations went on for months. Greg got what he wanted in the end. What I remember are his ruminations during the public consultations. He'd mutter away the whole time, running a hilarious commentary alongside each speaker. Greg was a natural comedian on account of his wry humour and equally wry facial expressions. Whilst I often disagreed politically with him, I could not help liking him.
I was a lazy councillor in that I found going around door knocking the electorate on Sunday arvo very tedious. I also found the interminable debates on rates, building codes etc. also extremely boring. I was not born a natural servant of the people. That is not to say that the Council did not do a number of very good things: Liz Anderson, for example, went along to all the Merri Creek meetings. Look at how well looked after the creek's riparian assets are now, where much work has been carried out ensuring lovely amenities in place of ugly factories and the like. We buried power lines. We looked after the baths and libraries and established one of the first really progressive welfare services in an area that was pretty devastated by relative poverty and unemployment. We supported CERES and the idea of looking at alternative sources of energy. I even created the Brunswick CC Cultural Development Officer position, which was assigned to Shane Maloney! In short, we made sure that Brunswick would have the foundations to become an active, energetic Council. Property there is now worth a mint and that is both good and bad.
Joe Caputo was also to become Mayor at some stage, although I think that happened when Brunswick was merged with Coburg to become Moreland Council. He and I could not stomach the politics of the Brunswick Electricity Supply Dept., especially when those in charge approved the purchase of a 4-wheel drive vehicle ostensibly to carry out electricity lines inspections! Joe and I went ballistic in the chamber during the debate but lost big time! I was involved in a car accident in 1993 that put me out for some months. I never had much interest in the Council after that, shifting my politics to another purpose. In all, a funny time, but not brilliant, as my contribution was limited. I can say, though, that I was not among those who stayed behind all night after Council meetings for supper and spirits, bottles of which were frequently known to disappear...........
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